On January 27, 1978, Richard Chase, who becomes known as the
"Vampire of Sacramento," murdered Evelyn Miroth , Daniel Meredith, as
well as Miroth's 6-year-old son and 22-month-old nephew, in Sacramento,
California. Chase sexually assaulted Miroth with a knife before killing her and
mutilating her body. He removed some of her organs and cannibalized them. The
previous year, the 28-year-old Chase had been found in the desert, naked and
covered in cow's blood. His behavior did not come as a complete surprise to
those who knew him. As a child, he had been known to kill animals, drinking the
blood of a bird on one occasion. He had been in and out of psychiatric
hospitals for most of his life.

Chase’s first known victim, Ambrose Griffin, 51, was killed in
a drive-by shooting in December 1977 in the drive way of his home. He committed
his second known homicide on January 23, 1979, when entered the East Sacramento
home of 22-year-old Teresa Wallin, who was shot to death and then mutilated and
partially cannibalized. After several tips from the public, Chase was apprehended
on February 1, at his apartment. Police found his home covered in blood and
filth. On May 8, 1979, a jury found him guilty of six counts of first-degree
murder and sentenced him to death. Chase committed suicide in his cell at San
Quentin prison on December 26, 1980 by taking an over dose of anti-depressant
medication.

Check back every
Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author
of six nonfiction books that includes the award winning Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949.
Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com
for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the
following link:

On January 25, 1971, Charles Manson was convicted, along
with followers Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel, of the
brutal 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders. In 1967, Manson, a lifetime criminal, was
released from a federal penitentiary in Washington State and traveled to San
Francisco, where he attracted a following among rebellious young women with
troubled emotional lives. Manson established a cult based on his concept of
"Helter Skelter," an apocalyptic philosophy predicting that out of an
imminent racial war in America would emerge five ruling angels: Manson, who
would take on the role of Jesus Christ, and the four members of the Beatles.
Manson convinced his followers that it would be necessary to murder celebrities
in order to attract attention to the cult.

On the night of August 9, 1969, with detailed
instructions from Manson, four of his followers drove up to Hollywood Hills home
of director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Polanski was not
home at the time but several friends of Tate’s were staying the night. During
the next few hours, Manson’s followers engaged in a murderous rampage that left
five dead, including a very pregnant Sharon Tate, three of her friends, and the
18-year-old son of the caretaker of the estate. The next night, Manson
followers murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in the Los Feliz
section of Los Angeles; this time, Manson went along to make sure the killings
were carried out correctly. The cases went unsolved for over a year before the
Los Angeles Police Department discovered the Manson connection. Various members
of his cult confessed, and Manson and five others were indicted on charges of
murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

In January 1972, Manson and three others were found
guilty, and on March 29 all four were sentenced to death. The trial of another
defendant, Charles "Tex" Watson, was delayed by extradition
proceedings, but he was likewise found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1972,
the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in California, and
Manson and his followers' death sentences were reduced to life imprisonment.

Check back every
Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author
of six nonfiction books that includes the award winning Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949.
Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com
for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the
following link.

On January 13, 1939, Arthur "Doc" Barker was killed
while trying to escape from Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay. Barker, of
the notorious "Bloody Barkers" gang, was spotted on the rock-strewn
shore of the island after climbing over the walls. Despite the fact that guards
were ordering him to surrender, Barker continued tying pieces of wood together
into a makeshift raft. As he waded into the water, the guards shot and killed
him. Doc Barker, along with his brothers Herman, Lloyd, and Fred, and their
mother, the infamous Ma Barker, formed one of the more formidable criminal
gangs of the 1920s and 1930s. Carrying out a series of bank robberies and
kidnappings throughout the Midwest, Ma shrewdly paid off officials in towns all
over the region, allowing the gang to avoid the law for long stretches of time.

In 1934, with their pictures in all of the newspapers,
Doc and Fred Barker tried to change their appearance through plastic surgery.
They enlisted Dr. Joseph Moran to conduct the operations, including removing
their fingerprints. But the plan was a disaster, and each ended up with
terrible scars and infected fingers. Dr. Moran was adopted into the gang as a
matter of necessity, but when he started to talk about their activities to a
prostitute, the Barkers killed him. On January 8, 1935, FBI agents, led by
Melvin Purvis, captured Doc Barker in Chicago, Illinois. As he searched Barker,
Purvis reportedly asked, "Where's your gun?" Barker replied,
"Home—and ain't that a place for it?" Eight days later, Fred and Ma
Barker were pinned down at their hideout in Florida. A massive gun battle left
both of them dead.

Check back every
Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author
of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949.
Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com
for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the
following link:

On January 9, 1984, Angelo Buono, one of the Hillside
Stranglers, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the rape, torture,
and murder of 10 young women in Los Angeles. Buono's cousin and partner in
crime, Kenneth Bianchi, testified against Buono to escape the death penalty. Buono,
a successful auto upholsterer, and Bianchi began their serial crime spree in
1977 when Bianchi moved from New York to live with his cousin. They started
talking about how the prostitutes that Buono often brought home would hardly be
missed by anyone if they disappeared. Idle speculation quickly led to action
and the pair raped and strangled their first victim, Yolanda Washington, on
October 17.

Within a month Buono and Bianchi had attacked three other
women and developed a trademark method of operation. They picked up the women
in their van, drove them back to Buono's house where they were sexually
assaulted in all manners, tortured, and strangled to death. The duo then
thoroughly cleaned the bodies before taking and posing them in lascivious positions
on hillsides in the Los Angeles area, often near police stations. Thus, they
earned the nickname the "Hillside Strangler." The press assumed that
it was the work of one man.

Following the death of the 10th victim in February 1978,
the murders suddenly stopped. Buono and Bianchi were no longer getting along,
even with their common hobby. Bianchi moved to Washington and applied for a job
at the Bellingham Police Department. He didn't get the job, but became a
security guard instead. However, he couldn't keep his murderous impulses in
check and killed two college students. A witness who had seen the two girls
with Bianchi came forward and the case was solved.

Bianchi, who had seen the movies Sybil and The Three
Faces of Eve many times, suddenly claimed to have multiple personalities. He
blamed the murders on "Steve," one of his alternate personalities.
Psychiatrists examining Bianchi quickly dismissed his ruse and Bianchi then
confessed to the Hillside Strangler murders, testifying against Buono to avoid
the death penalty in Washington. During his trial, Buono fiercely insisted on
his innocence, pointing to the fact that there was no physical evidence tying
him to the crimes. Buono's house was so clean that investigators couldn't even
find Buono's own fingerprints in the home. But after more than 400 witnesses
testified, Buono was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the
possibility of parole. Angelo Buono died from a heart attack on September 21,
2002 at the age of 67. Kenneth Bianchi was denied parole in September 2005 and
remains in prison.

Check back every
Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author
of six nonfiction books that include the award winning Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949.
Visit his website www.michaelthomasbarry.com
for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the following
link: